Friday, February 11, 2011

Why We Need the Feed?

Hi, my name is Julie, a new account manager with the RentMineOnline team, and I’m signing on here with my first blog. I joined RentMineOnline because I recognized an overwhelming trend of social media marketing in my daily life. We are connected to “the grid” more than ever before. Computers, phones and now even iPads create the infrastructure while companies like Facebook, Yelp and Twitter enable the voice of the consumer.

We spend so much time on these networking and recommendation sites because we like and rely upon the content. Was that an earthquake I just felt (you can relate if from SF)? Check Twitter. Missed the Superbowl party at Mike’s and want to see how it was? Check Facebook. We are coming to rely upon social networks for information flow. This Mashable article does a good job explaining How News Consumption is Shifting to the Social Feed, http://on.mash.to/bv9gpH.

Every month (Jan 2011 figures), an average of 30 billion pieces of content (links, notes, photos) are shared on Facebook alone. People follow friends, products, causes and other groups to absorb this information. Businesses strive to gain market recognition from these users by trying to discover clever ways to engage consumers online with branded content and interactive advertising. Their goal is brand building, selling and expanding the reach of their product amongst friends. The main point here is the selling power of friendship, The Wall Street Journal did an interesting piece on this a while back, http://on.wsj.com/9f2CNo. People want to connect with their peers, in turn, purchasing the same products or reading up on what their friends have posted on their social walls. Thus, social media can be used as a tool that makes creating a viral or buzz worthy campaign easier; cost effective, less time consuming, green and have a significantly larger social reach.

Old Spice utilized Twitter and Facebook successfully in turning one of their popular commercials into a hilarious and engaging marketing campaign. Wieden Kennedy, Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”, delivered personal videos responses in character to anyone who tweeted a question or comment about Old Spice. The debonair spokesman delivered almost 120 strategic video responses in 24 hours. Check out one of his videos below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oElH6M_5i4

Everyone wanted in on the experience and tweeted about Old Spice in hopes of a personal response. This spurred global conversation and brand engagement and spread to the masses through massive amounts of re-tweets and blog based exposure.

Personalization, engagement and responsiveness are consistent themes found in the Old Spice campaign and any successful social media campaign. These themes can be integrated into the Multi Family Industry to modernize their current referral programs through social media.